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Thursday, December 31, 2015

It has been an AMAZING year! I can't believe we all stand at the threshold of a new year. This year went by SO fast. My head was "caught up in the clouds" of many project and their looming deadlines so it's nice to come down and spend some time in reflection. I REALLY had some cool experiences this year!

***I'm in Fashion Design School---Made it through my first year in the SDC Fashion design program. I even upgraded my studies from a Certificate to a Diploma. I LOVE the cirriculum! Learning everything from technical drawing, costume history, sustainable design, textiles etc. And learning more about fashion design is preparing me for some of my future goals ;)

(LBD design assignment. My drawings have come a long way!!!)

***I've taught lots of BurdaStyle courses through webinar but I got to fly out to visit BurdaStyle in Colorado and film my own Pants course in April. Planning my cirriculum and 3 days of filming sure was an AMAZING experience!

***Mr. Jim and I started the "Tailor and the Dressmaker Show"! Couldn't be happier with this project. We love discussing all things sewing and doing demos. Catch up with us on Facebook and you can find the link to the shows there:)

***I visited the Boston Ballet and got behind the scene access to their costumes department and closet! Just got one word for the experience---PHENOMENOL!!!

***Of course recently I helped make the Kansas City Ballet Nutcracker costumes and even got to fly out to Kansas City to fit the ballerinas! This project took 2.5 months and a TON of hours to complete. My greatest challenge of the year and most rewarding:)

***Made the annual Father/Daughter Banquet dress for my daughter. I enjoy doing this every year.

Made glorious client dresses

And a few other accomplishments! I didn't do all that I wanted but I had an amazing year! God has truly been faithful to me. I did things I didn't even think I could do! I pushed past my very limits, overcame a few fears and insecurities and took some jumps into the unknown. I survived and better yet I grew as a sewer and a person! Very cool indeed! Looking forward to an amazing 2016! Will be chatting about those plans next!!!! I'm planning to push myself like never before and achieve some big things in 2016:)

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Happy Christmas Eve's Eve! Things have finally slowed down enough since the ballet costumes and I'm starting to feel normal while things get back to normal. Have resumed sewing for clients, fashion design degree homework etc. Happy to report that I squeezed some time to make something for myself. That's always a treat! I was happy to pick this cute little cardigan pattern and had the perfect sweater knit fabric I picked up from Joann's! The patter is McCall's 7254 which I highly recommend. I made view C as pictured on the envelope and size medium. I'm VERY short-waisted (short torso, mostly legs) so I'm always a bit nervous about making tops or jackets that could potentially be too short and thus make my upper body appear shorter. I opt for slightly longer options to give my body some balance. But turns out this worked great and I like the style. I'm not a super fan of the shawl collar but this worked. I love the fact this has a peplum too in the back. And this cardigan is a bit deceptive since it looks a bit like a jacket---but without all of the work. Anyhow great, easy little cardigan.

(It's not everyday you walk into a restaurant bathroom with a full mirror. Makes for quick and easy pics. Aren't you glad I'm such a classy & professional photographer LOL)

(Back View)

(oops, didn't realize to after snapping the pic I put the cardigan on the form lopsided. At least you can see the colors and patterns. I love the fuchsia in the fabric. Great accent color!)

Sunday, December 6, 2015

The time has finally come and I couldn't be more excited!!! The Kansas City Ballet rolled out their new season of the Nutcracker and I was so proud to see the 6 party girl dresses that my sewing partner Mrs. P (she is a costuming expert) and I made (we also made 2 capes not pictured). It took us 2.5 months and tons of hours to crank out these dresses. I mean TONSSSSSSSS of work---I was averaging 4 hours of sleep some nights. I sewed more in those 2.5 months then I think I did for most of the year LOLLLL! These weren't your average dresses. Each dress was unique in it's bodice and skirt detailing. They also had big fancy sleeves and trims. They were made of the finest silks and taffeta. These pics don't do them justice. The amount of details in each dress is insane. They're made with very vivid colors so they really "pop" on stage! The amazingly talented Holly Hynes designed each dress and gave us a beautiful drawing of each. We went to work making them by first creating the patterns (did all of our drafting which was fun) and once we were shipped all of the fabrics we got to work making the dresses. Again, there's a TON of detail in each dress so it took lots of work. The costuming world is a unique one and is a bit different than dressmaking so I appreciated the insights! I'll have to share those with you all one day when I get the chance. In the meantime I'll just bask in this moment. This was by far the MOST demanding work I've done all year so as you can imagine the sense of satisfaction and pride is indeed greater! It's so humbling! It was such a blessing to be a part of such a HUGE event! Also, you can see more photos at this slideshow here.... http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article47873580.html

(Here are 4 of the 6 dresses we made-- the middle one excluded--someone else made it)

(All 6 of the dresses are featured here---seated girls on both rows. The colors are REALLY RICH the photo doesn't truly capture it. I love the color palette used for all of the costumes. They are absolutely beautiful!)

(another dress here....)

(...and you can see the green one here)

(Backs of some of their dresses. We made them big fancy bows!!!!)

(And if you needed a little proof to know I'm not making any of this up (LOL) here's a pic of me working on the bodice of the blue pinstripe dress you see in some of the pics above.....)

(Holding the finished green and pink dress before shipping them all off)

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I love to sew! It is like the air I breathe! I'm constantly trying to improve my skills. Experts have said it takes 10,000 hours of hard work to become an expert seamstress (before you panic read my first entry for more info or read the book, "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell:). I'm on a mission to test this theory. You're welcome to join me on this journey---one hour at a time!